The afternoon sun was still scorching, and the holy city was shrouded in shadow.

"hold head high--!"

A deafening dragon's roar shattered the tranquility around the church, causing the air to tremble.

A colossal creature covered in golden scales hovered atop the church spire.

That was a pure-blooded dragon, its wings whipping up a fierce wind.

The dragon folded its wings in mid-air and spiraled down, landing on the white marble square in the center of the church.

The hard stone slab cracked inch by inch, and fragments of stone flew everywhere.

Archbishop Andrew walked out of the church with his scepter in his hand.

He faced the sunlight and looked at the two figures leaping down from the back of the dragon.

The leader was a burly middle-aged man.

He had short blond hair, a full beard, and wore a worn-out heavy dragon scale armor. A wine gourd hung {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} at his waist, clanging as he walked.

This person is none other than Domoko, the renowned SS-rank professional of the Free Federation and the Holy Dragon Knight.

Beside Domoko followed another young man.

He had blond hair and a handsome face; he was none other than Thor, once hailed as the young prodigy of the Free Federation and known as the God of Thunder.

Andrew's gaze lingered on Thor for an extra second.

He sensed that this once-proud and brilliant prodigy had changed after the battle at the ruins of Castrandis.

He concealed all his sharpness.

Those eyes, which once shone with lightning, have lost their former sharpness and become lifeless.

"Hey! Bishop Andrew, it's been a long time."

Domoko strode up the steps, looked at Andrew with a broad grin, revealing a set of white teeth.

The aroma of ale wafted into Andrew's nostrils on the gentle breeze.

Andrew frowned, then nodded, which was his way of greeting the other party.

In fact, as top-tier SS-class powerhouses of the Federation, he had dealt with Domoko for decades. One represented the sacred power of the Holy See, and the other represented the unruly martial prowess of knights. The two had always been at odds with each other in terms of ideology and style, and had engaged in countless open and covert struggles.

Andrew was surprised that Domoco would personally come to the bishop's palace to find him.

Seeing Andrew's reaction, Domoko didn't care. He took the wine flask from his waist, tilted his head back, and took a big gulp.

"Ha—that feels great!"

Domoko wiped the wine stains from the corner of his mouth, leaned closer, and said, "Old buddy, I suddenly remembered a question that's been bothering me for a long time. You know... if I ride a dragon after drinking, does that count as drunk driving under the Federation's laws?"

Andrew smiled upon hearing this.

"You still love telling these lame jokes after all these decades."

Andrew gripped the scepter tightly.

"Let's get straight to the point, Domoko. You stubborn mule who won't do anything without a reason, what information do you want to get out of me by coming all this way here today?"

Domoko stopped smiling, stared at Andrew for a while, and then laughed.

“You understand me well, Andrew. No wonder you’ve been my rival for half my life.”

Domoko turned around, glanced at the square behind him and the Holy Knights guarding in the distance, and lowered his voice.

"This is not the place to talk."

Without saying a word, Andrew turned and walked deeper into the church.

"Come with me."

After passing through the long corridor, the three arrived at a secret room deep inside the church.

Andrew waved his hand, dismissing all the servants, and then activated the soundproof defense array of the secret chamber.

As a beam of light enveloped the entire room, Domoko exhaled and sat down in the oak chair.

“You know, Andrew,” Domoko said, dropping his nonchalant demeanor. “I’ve never been a favorite of the Holy Lord. I’m too straightforward; I can’t learn your roundabout ways of praising and flattering him.”

“I am an SS-rank, but within the power core of the Free Federation, I have always been a marginalized figure. I do the dirty work and the hard work, but I never get any of the benefits.”

Domoko stared at Andrew as he finished speaking.

"But what exactly happened this time?"

"Why did the Holy Lord think of me first when such a huge situation occurred in Losga and Newt, with millions of people disappearing into thin air?"

"This is so abnormal. So abnormal that it gave me goosebumps."

Domoko pointed to Thor, who was standing to the side.

"Including Thor."

"He was also deprived of many resources because of the failure at the Castrandis ruins, and now he has become a marginal figure like me."

Domoko paused, his tone turning cold.

“Andrew, you're in charge of the Federation's highest intelligence network, you know what I mean, right?”

"What's so strange about this incident? Even your most elite full-strength S-rank Holy Judgment Knights were wiped out, without even making a peep."

"I have a feeling... that the Holy Lord sent the two of us there this time to be cannon fodder."

The atmosphere became tense when the words "cannon fodder" were uttered in the secret room.

Two SS-level powerhouses actually thought they were going to their deaths. If word got out, it would cause an earthquake throughout the entire Free Federation.

Andrew remained silent for a long time.

He looked at the flickering candlelight in front of him.

After a long silence, he made a difficult decision.

"The thoughts of the Holy Lord are not something we, his subjects, can presume to guess."

Andrew spoke, his voice very low.

“But... Domoko. Your intuition just now was correct.”

"However, in recent years, the Holy Lord... is different from before."

Upon hearing Andrew, the Holy Lord's most trusted right-hand man, utter such treasonous words, Domoco's hand holding the wine jug froze in mid-air.

"You should be aware of the all-out war between Great Xia and Sakura Kingdom a while ago."

Ignoring Domoko's shock, Andrew continued, his tone full of doubt.

"If it were in the past, given the Holy Lord's controlling nature, our Free Federation would have intervened secretly. Whether it was providing military equipment or sending powerful individuals to disguise themselves and participate in the war, we wouldn't have let Great Xia win so easily, much less let Sakura Country be annexed!"

"But what about this time?"

Andrew looked up, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"The Holy Lord merely issued a death order, forcing all of us to stand by and watch! No matter how the battle unfolds, we are not allowed to interfere in the slightest!"

"Domoko, you should know that the trigger for that war was Kujo Hiroharu's attempt to revive the SSS-rank Kujo Naruya!"

"Once the pendulum of life has truly gathered enough energy to fully revive the former Kujo Naruya, the birth of an SSS-rank powerhouse beyond our control would be a troublesome matter for the Free Federation."

"But the Holy Lord... he doesn't care at all!"

Andrew sighed, "Over the years, the Holy Lord seems to have become increasingly indifferent, as if he no longer cares about anything."

Domoko nodded thoughtfully after listening, then said something truly shocking.

"Do you think our Holy Lord is about to die?"